


Arrow to the Heart

by FeyduBois



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, M/M, Magical Accidents, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 14:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11150436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeyduBois/pseuds/FeyduBois
Summary: Lance was supposed to get Lotor and Keith together so that Athens, Altea, and Gal could at peace with one another. Well, screw that, Lance saw Keith first.





	Arrow to the Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Roostertease_it](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roostertease_it/gifts).



> Done as a Valentine's Day gift on the Discord server "You say Vol, I say Tron" for Sophie (roostertease_it). Sorry for the delay in posting, I needed to do some editing and didn't get around to it right away.
> 
> Thank you to enjayas for the beta reading!

Lance was supposed to get Lotor and Keith together so that Athens, Altea, and Gal could at peace with one another.

 

Well, screw that, Lance saw Keith first.

 

***

 

Lance had been watching him for a month at least… three weeks? Something like that. Lance figured he had Keith pinned down, and Lance loved it. He loved Keith, his senseless rebellion, his emotion-driven spurts of energy, his sharp tongue, his warm, easy smile… Keith was just the right mix of “I don’t care”, “fuck you”, and “screw me” for Lance. Except, there was one tiny problem.

 

Cupids weren’t supposed to fall in mortal love themselves. It was not unheard of, but because of their nature, they were more prone to short lusty nights with humans and reserved long term relationships for other non-cupid cryptids, usually pans, nyads, or dryads. (Lance was the result of one such affair with a nyad). Of course they had platonic cuddle puddles and grooming with their family flocks in the nest, but only occasionally did two cupids couple up, and even then it was usually only to procreate. Dryads, nyads, mer-folk, and other magical beings were acceptable sexual partners, even centaurs; however Lance could not think of another cupid who had fallen in full out love with a human and risked the fall to Earth for them, and there was no way a human would ever be permitted to live in Olympus city. 

 

Therefore Lance was stuck just watching the Athenian princeling from afar whenever he was able. He was pretty, with pale skin, longish dark hair, and striking violet eyes, his body young and fit from the time he spent training in hand-to-hand, and his smile could light up the room. 

 

Keith was pretty enough and just smart enough, but honestly didn’t care much for love, which actually helped him avoid the bewildering mess of Athenian romance and politics.

 

Lance hoped he would never have to fire an arrow at Keith; if he had to… he didn’t think he’d be able to do it.

 

***

 

“We have a lot of work to do today,” Shiro, their nest father, said to the gathered cupids. “Saturnalia is coming up soon and things are going to get crazy during the festivities.”

 

“Aw yeah!” exclaimed Hunk, a large cupid with warm brown skin and golden wings. Their wings all quivered with anticipation.

 

Shiro gestured for the nest to calm down, “I know you are excited. It’s an exciting time of year.”

 

Saturnalia fell during the darkest month of the year but was a celebration of life, of renewal, and a time of great festivities. There would be extravagant dining, drinking contests, role-reversals, and so much entertainment that the cupids would be hard pressed to work their magic without being distracted. This was the elite squad however; these were the cupids in charge of making sure that Athens remained a city full of art, wisdom, wealth, and most importantly, love.

 

“Pidge?” Shiro asked a small cupid with silvery green wings, “I have your assignment.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“It isn’t the usual, I need you to get a couple to fall back in love. It is essential for the good of the festivities and the city of Athens that the theatre manager and his wife have a good relationship, at least for the next few moons.”

 

“Oooh, this sounds challenging,” Pidge rubbed her hands together and accepted the scroll Shiro gave her to read over, outlining the relationship she was in charge of repairing.

 

“Hunk?” Shiro held out another scroll which Hunk accepted, “Your assignment is a new relationship. They only just met, but he will inspire her to fabulous new levels in her art as a muse and the fates decree that we need these sculptures, so you need to get them to notice each other and then fall deep. There are some things they need to overcome, family dynamics and the like, but I think it can be done with the power of love.”

 

“Got it,” Hunk saluted, grinning warmly.

 

“They’re going to both be at a dinner party tonight, I expect you can get things rolling?”

 

“Oh yeah,” Hunk nodded eagerly, “I can do that.”

 

Dinner parties were Hunk’s specialty; he was especially good at getting couples to bond over meals.

 

“Very good then,” Shiro turned to Lance, the last remaining cupid, “I’ve got your assignment here. It’s also a new love, and your specialty, but it’s very important and I think you can handle it… you are, after-all, our sharpshooter.”

 

Lance’s specialty was male-on-male relationships, Shiro didn’t need to be so roundabout with saying it.

 

“Give it,” he held out a hand for the scroll, flexing his fingers greedily, and cracked it right away to look at the text, his grey-blue wings going rigid when he saw the names at the top of the assignment.

 

_ ‘Keith prince of Athens and Lotor crown prince of Gal island, political.’ _

 

“Princes?” Lance asked with a raised eyebrow. Generally he worked with soldiers, sometimes artists or philosophers, but rarely was he entrusted with anything political.

 

“You’ll manage fine,” Shiro said, and then clapped his hands, “Now. Off now my cupids, may your hearts be filled with love and your arrows fly true. Go, be great!”

 

***

 

Keith, prince of Athens.

 

_ Well, shit. _ This was the absolute worst thing that Lance could have imagined. He had to pierce the man he just might love with an arrow straight through the heart for another.

 

He had to do it. He was a cupid, this was what they did. It was his duty.

 

‘ _ O fates, _ ’ Lance silently prayed, ‘ _ if there is another way then please make it so. _ ’

 

***

 

Cupids spent a lot of time lurking and spying. Today he was spying on Keith, and although he wouldn’t admit to it, this was in fact one of his favourite hobbies even before it became his job.

 

It was a nice afternoon in the gardens at the palace in Athens. It was winter so it wasn’t great weather-wise, but it was quiet and the dead leaves on the vines smelled spicy-sweet in winter so the prince (he wasn’t the crown prince, they wouldn’t have trusted Lance with that kind of assignment) was outside, under the gazebo, with a single servant. It wasn’t that Keith wouldn’t rather be in the warm palace, but it was busy inside and a young man needed fresh air and solitude every once in awhile.

 

Lotor, Prince of Gal island, was also walking about, a half dozen servants in tow. The Galran crown prince was in Athens on some diplomatic mission or some-such nonsense that probably amounted to ass-kissing and delivering cards, but this afternoon he’d taken a liking to strolling the garden, despite the threat of heavy rain from above. He wore a long, thick, violet cloak over his toga and held it tight against the wintery breeze, as if his presence was being forced.

 

“Keith?” Lotor exclaimed in feigned surprise, and then rushed to the gazebo where the princeling was casually dining and pursuing a scroll.

 

“What on Gaia are you doing outside in this awful weather?”

 

The young prince set down his scrolls, marking his spot with a small stone, and brought his cool violet gaze to the Galran, “It is not that cold. Have you never been to Brittany?”

 

Lotor shook his head, “I can’t imagine much worse than this.” The pretty Galran prince was on him immediately, grasping his hands.

 

“Oh, but you are so chilled!” He exclaimed dramatically.

 

“It’s really not that bad,” Keith blinked in confusion, removing his hands from Lotor’s grip. His hands were warmer than Lotor’s, his hands were always warmer than everyone else’s.

 

“I don’t see how you can be out here in this!” Lotor cried, as if they were in the midst of a massive northern snowstorm instead of a simple dreary mediterranean winter afternoon. “You will catch your death! You best come inside with me right away.”

 

“Not yet,” Keith exclaimed as he removed his hands from Lotor’s grasp, “I haven’t even finished lunch yet.”

 

“Hmmm,” Lotor grumped as if Keith had insulted him. “Fine, we can stay out here until you are done, but then we must go inside before we freeze in place.”

 

“There is nothing to stop you from going inside,” Keith commented dryly.

 

With a sigh Lance loaded his trusty silver bow and readied an arrow. He brought it up to Keith’s chest and then paused, aiming the arrow at his target. The cupid’s job was to bring love, love that would make the world beautiful and better for everyone in it, and Lance had always been good at his job.

 

But… it wasn’t right this time. Keith had no love for Lotor, he sort of despised him actually, if Lance’s cupid senses were telling him the right thing, and yet for the sake of Athens Lance was supposed to shoot him with an arrow and make them fall in love?

 

Lance let loose his arrow; at the last moment it flew wild, picked up by a winter breeze, which frankly any experienced cupid would have taken into account, and was lost into the hedges around the garden.

 

_ Oh well, _ he’d just load another arrow into his bow and fire it.

 

Lance cocked the arrow and fired. At the very last second Lotor stepped in front of Keith and the arrow pierced him from behind, dissolving as soon as it entered him. Lotor stood stiff and a look of confusion came over him.

 

And then he was up against Keith, “Oh but you must come inside with me, I will warm you up my love.”

 

“Please leave,” Keith said, coldly.

 

“But my prince! I love you!”

 

Well, Lance was planning to hit Lotor eventually as well, even if he was already in lust. He might have to try to strike Keith later on when he had a clear shot and there wasn’t quite so much wind.

 

***

 

The opportunity came that night at the Saturnalia opening feast.

 

Keith and Lotor both sat at the main table with a beautiful Altean woman between them, Allura, princess of Altea, if Lance’s memory served him correctly.

 

Lance was perched in a windowsill, invisible to all but supernatural beings and cats. The wind coming in was cold, but it was a refreshing contrast to the heat of the large fires built up in the hall and the many gathered bodies drinking and feasting.

 

With Allura between them Lance did not trust himself to fire an arrow. The arrows worked so that the next person seen would become the target’s love of their life. Instead he waited until after Keith had excused himself to the water closet and was returning to the table, weaving his way through the crowd. A large ugly black cat stared him down, but no one else saw him.

 

Allura was, at the moment, elsewhere, talking to someone, so it was just Lotor who was near Keith’s spot at the table and Keith would have to step right past him to return to his seat. It was a perfect shot. Lance notched his arrow and fired, the magic arrow going straight into Keith’s back.

 

Keith turned around. His violet eyes widened as he looked straight at Lance. Lance turned around to see if anyone else was nearby that Keith could be looking at but Keith was staring straight at him, his pupils rapidly dilating in a familiar indication.

 

Lance gulped. That wasn’t supposed to happen. How could Keith see him? Lance fled the room right away.

 

“Wait!” Keith called out.

 

Lance dodged through the crowd, not worrying if he bumped into people or how well he kept up his disguise. He found himself breathlessly standing near the doorway where a large potted ivy shaded a dark corner. He ducked into the shadows and ran along a dirt pathway that hugged the building’s stone work until he came to an ancient grey-barked oak tree with gnarled branches that was almost growing out of the foundation. He climbed into a low branch and panted, trying to regain his composure.

 

“Hello,” a smooth voice said as Keith pulled himself onto the branch next to Lance, “Why did you run away?”

 

‘ _ Crap crap crap _ ,’ Lance swore inside. “You weren’t supposed to see me.”

 

“Why not?” Keith tilted his head curiously, “Are you a servant? You’re not dressed like one of ours, but you could be from another household.”

 

“No, I…” Lance narrowed his eyes. “How can you see me? Do you see my wings?”

 

“Wings?” Keith blinked, staring just past Lance’s head, and then startled, as if he saw them now, “What are those? Why are they blue?  _ What _ are you?”

 

“I could ask you the same question.  _ How _ can you see me?”

 

“I… don’t actually know,” Keith shrugged, “I guess I’m human, but there is some evidence to the contrary.”

 

“I see,” said Lance.

 

“You, you’re a cupid? That’s why the wings, and you… you shot me!” Keith said.

 

“You weren’t supposed to see me,” Lance said miserably.

 

“Who was I supposed to fall in love with?”

 

“Prince Lotor.”

 

“Ew,” Keith wrinkled his nose, “I’d rather you.”

 

“That’s the arrow talking.”

 

“No, I’d rather anyone than Lotor,” Keith said, and then approached Lance even closer. His hands were burning where they touched Lance’s skin, hot breath against his cheek, voice sultry in the dark. “But I especially want you.”

 

Lance couldn’t help it. In his defence, he tried.

 

Not as hard as he could have, he was a cupid after all, but he gave it minimum effort.

 

***

 

They were in a tangled heap of limbs on the cold ground, warm despite the chill night, their clothing partly removed as they kissed passionately, touching each other all over, and Lance’s wings covering them lightly.

 

“Lance,” rumbled a familiar disapproving voice.

 

“Godsdammit,” Lance swore and lowered his wings to look at the source of the sound.

 

There stood Shiro, at his full height, his right arm blackened with permanent scarring and magical tattoos from a past battle, his giant silvery black wings spread to their full extent as if to be as intimidating as possible.

 

“Lance, what are you doing?” he asked in his nest-father voice.

 

“Uh, hey Shiro,” Lance smiled weakly, “This is Keith.”

 

“Keith is your target.”

 

“About that… I may have missed?”

 

“Why were you visible in his line of sight?”

 

“I wasn’t!” Lance stood up and stretched out his arms, Keith falling to the ground and scrambling to get fully dressed, “He saw me! He’s not human.”

 

Keith blinked at Shiro, clearly looking at him and able to take him all in. Shiro frowned deeply. “He fell for you instead?”

 

“Shiro, I think… I really like him. I think we’re really compatible.”

 

Shiro sighed, “But what about the mission? We can’t just not get them together.”

 

“I hate Lotor,” Keith spoke up, “He’s a terrible person. Why are we supposed to be together anyway?”

 

“It isn’t supposed to be a long-term relationship, don’t worry,” Shiro reassured Keith, “We just need Lotor distracted so that he doesn’t fall for Allura of Altea. If he does fall for her a war between Altea and Gal is inevitable, and Athens would of course side with Altea, and things could get very messy.”

 

“So I’m just a pawn?” Keith asked bitterly.

 

“It’s not like that…” Shiro said.

 

“It’s exactly like that!”

 

“Isn’t there someone else?” Lance asked.

 

Shiro shook his head, “This is what the fates have declared that they want.”

 

“Screw the fates!” Keith yelled, “It’s my life, I can love whomever I want! Who are you to say what—”

 

Shiro tapped Keith lightly on the forehead with his magic arm and he collapsed to the ground in an unconscious heap.

 

“That was unnecessary,” Lance said, kneeling down and turning Keith over.

 

“Fix this,” Shiro said, turning away “Or else.”

 

“Fix this,” Lance mocked, “Or else what?”

 

“You could lose your wings Lance.”

 

_ Oh. There was that _ . Lance quietly picked up Keith and carried him inside where a servant directed him to Keith’s room after he explained that the prince indulged in a few too many cups of wine.

 

***

 

The next day Keith was still asleep while Lance was observing the hall during the morning meal. What if Allura fell for Lotor? Wouldn’t that fix the problem? Lotor would fall for her and she would fall for Lotor back. If Allura reciprocated, then a war wouldn’t happen. First of all, Lotor had to fall for Allura, which wouldn’t be a problem if he was already inclined, Lance just had to counteract his first arrow.

 

‘ _ Twang! _ ’ the arrow fired. It was a direct hit right when Lotor was chatting with Allura. Suddenly his eyes went wide and a smile spread across his face.

 

“Princess,” Lotor sidled up next to her, “I had never noticed before how stunning your eyes are.”

 

“Lance!” A voice from across the room startled the cupid. He turned to see Shiro, disguised as a human. His right arm was missing completely in this form, his body marred, yet fit. A bright pink scar spread across the bridge of his nose, although he was otherwise a very attractive man, giving the impression of a war veteran.

 

“What do you think you’re doing?”

 

“Just watch!”

 

“Absolutely not!” Shiro exclaimed.

 

Lance quickly loaded his bow with another arrow and fired towards Allura. It hit successfully, but as he fired, Shiro was on his way to deflect it and ended up face to face with Allura right when the arrow struck her arm. Her eyes widened, her cheeks flushed, and she was looking straight at Shiro’s human form.

 

“Why hello,” she purred, “Who might you be?”

 

“I need to go,” Shiro announced and took off towards Lance.

 

“Wait,” Allura followed. Lotor followed her.

 

Keith just then was coming down the staircase, scanning the half-full hall of people until he saw Lance and ran towards him. Shiro grabbed Lance by the arm and guided him quickly towards the exit. 

 

“Wait!” Keith called and followed them both.

 

Once Lance and Shiro were outside, Shiro took Lance’s arm and tugged him into the air, flying the both of them to the top of the building to talk privately.

 

Just outside the door Allura, Keith, and Lotor were all looking for them. Well, Lotor was there for Allura, demanding her to tell him who that mysterious man was and what he meant to her. Keith was looking for Lance, and Allura was searching for the beautiful man with one arm and the distinctive scar across his nose.

 

***

 

“What are you doing?” Shiro asked angrily.

 

“Well, I was trying to get Lotor and Allura to fall for each other.”

 

“That is exactly what you were NOT supposed to let happen.”

 

“Why? Isn’t the war started by Lotor and Allura?”

 

“The war is started by Allura’s family. Lotor is not a good man.”

 

“Then why would you subject Keith to him?” asked Lance.

 

“It would only be for a year.”

 

“A year of living with a monster!” Lance was livid, rage smouldering in his ocean-blue eyes, “He was right, you are using him as a pawn.”

 

“It’s the fates,” Shiro said firmly, “This is what they wanted.”

 

“Screw fate!” Lance spat, “Can’t we change this?”

 

Shiro sighed, “You know as well as I do that it doesn’t work that way.”

 

“This is stupid,” Lance said bitterly.

 

“Hunk and Pidge will be meeting us back here in a few hours,” Shiro continued, “I’m going to give you one last chance. First, I will lure all of our targets into the gardens. There you can get Keith and Lotor back to where they belong, and use a counter-arrow on Allura. I can move them around from behind the scenes, isolate them as needed.”

 

“But Shiro!”

 

“No, cupid, you’ve created a mess.” Shiro used his best commander voice, “Now you will repair it.”

 

***

 

Only, Lance couldn’t bring himself to do that.

 

Shiro didn’t know what he was asking of Lance because Shiro had never been in love like Lance was. That would just have to be corrected; Allura was the obvious choice, she was beautiful and kind, Lance got a good reading off her, and he had seen the way Shiro had reacted when she had asked him his name. Allura had managed to lose Lotor, and Keith was walking around the garden, gradually making his way back to the tree he and Lance had been under the previous night.

 

That same damned cat from the dining hall was also stalking around the gardens, probably hunting for mice, although it was clearly a well-fed house pet.

 

The opportunity would arrive, Lance knew. He flew from treetop to treetop, but he forgot that staying out of Keith’s sight wouldn’t be possible and soon Keith was beneath the tree he was in, calling his name.

 

“Lance!”

 

Lance hung upside down from the branch and Keith pressed a firm kiss on his lips. “What happened to me last night? Who was that other cupid?”

 

“That was Shiro,” Lance flipped over so that he landed on his feet in front of Keith, “He’s my nest father. Sort of like a commanding officer?”

 

“I see…” Keith sounded uncertain.

 

“He wants me to fix this,” Lance gestured with his hands to indicate the space between them and what was happening.

 

“There’s nothing to fix! I want to be with you.”

 

“Shh,” Lance placed a finger on Keith’s lips, enjoying the way that his face flushed with anger. “I’ve got a plan.”

 

“Is it going to work?” Keith asked dubiously.

 

“Trust me,” Lance winked, “I will show Shiro the power of love.”

 

“Will your arrows work on him?”

 

Lance paused, unsure himself. “We’ll find out.”

 

Allura stalked by. In the distance they could hear Lotor calling her name as she was rushing past quickly to escape him. Shiro was not far behind, concealed in his ethereal form. 

 

Lance was perched up in the tree next to Keith. He withdrew an arrow and unhooked his silver bow from his back to notch in the arrow. He drew the bowstring back so that the arrow brushed against his cheek, aiming carefully at Shiro’s back. Keith’s hand rested hot on his thigh.

 

Lance let the arrow loose. It struck Shiro between the wings and he flinched, stopping in his pursuit of Allura. He must have made some sound, a strangled gasp, and in the moment his invisibility dropped while the effect of the arrow overtook him.

 

“Princess…” he said. 

 

Allura stopped and turned to face him, “It’s you!” She ran to him and grasped his hand, “What’s your name? Where are you from?”

 

“I’m Shiro. I’m from… not from here. You are Princess Allura of Altea, right?”

 

“Please call me Allura.”

 

“Gods, you’re beautiful…”

 

Her laughter was like beautiful bells to Shiro’s ears, “You aren’t so bad looking yourself.”

 

They came together in a press of lips and clash of teeth.

 

“That worked I guess,” Keith commented, “But does it last?”

 

“The arrow works for maybe like half a year at most? If their relationship is strong it will survive.”

 

“And ours?” Keith asked.

 

“I plan for it to last but I won’t, y’know, arrow you again if you don’t feel the same then… I’ll probably lose my wings over this actually.”

 

“Oh,” Keith frowned, “Really? But why?”

 

“Disobeying orders, marking my nest father, starting a war with Gal…”

 

“Lotor...”

 

“Yeah,” Lance grimaced.

 

“What if we find someone else for Lotor to fixate upon? Maybe then he’ll leave Allura alone?”

 

“Sure, but who?” Lance said, “We need to get on that, he’s in the garden looking for her right now, and Shiro isn’t one to put up with people like him.”

 

“Hmm…” Keith looked around the area, his gaze settling on the ground. Lance looked where was looking. Walking along the path below was the ugly cat from earlier.

 

“No…” Lance said.

 

“Yes,” Keith affirmed, a wicked grin on his face.

 

***

 

Several moons later, back in the Kingdom of Gal, Emporor Zarkon was not pleased.

 

Zarkon frowned at his son, “Lotor, what is that  _ thing _ you are holding?”

 

“This is Precious, she is my favourite.”

 

“It’s a cat.”

 

“Hush father,” Lotor exclaimed, pressing his hands over the cat’s ears, “She’ll hear you insulting her!”

 

***

 

The beaches of Altea were lovely no matter the season. Shiro and Allura were laying on the rocks in the sun, talking quietly. Hunk and Pidge, the other cupids from Lance’s unit, were building something in the sand, and Keith and Lance were swimming.

 

Or rather, Lance, a natural in the water, was trying to get Keith to join him in the waves.

 

“I don’t really do water,” Keith said.

 

“Why not?” asked Lance, “Don’t you bathe?”

 

“Not really, I just use a cloth.”

 

“Ew,” Lance frowned, “It won’t hurt you, come on in. The water’s fine!”

 

Keith took a few steps in, then a few more, but when he reached chest-depth a searing pain ripped up his back. He cried out and began to move back towards the shallows.

 

“Keith? What’s the matter?” Lance asked in alarm.

 

Keith’s back was turned to him and it was… on fire?

 

“You’re burning Keith!”

 

Keith rushed out of the water onto the shore and reached out to touch the flames pouring out of his back. His hands were unhurt by them. The licks of fire eventually died down and soon formed into flaming wings.

 

“Oh…” Lance said, coming back on shore to approach Keith slowly, “That’s it.”

 

The others had come running when they heard Keith’s yell.

 

“You’re a phoenix, Keith,” Pidge explained gently, “Or part phoenix…” 

 

A pleasant warmth filled Lance, not just from Keith, but from the notion that he was allowed to love Keith, that he was  _ the same. _

 

“Phoenix blood… of course,” Shiro considered. “That makes sense now.”

 

“Hey Keith,” Lance grinned.

 

“What?”

 

“You’re so hot you’re on fire.”

 

Everyone groaned except Keith, a goofy grin spreading across his face.

 


End file.
